Last year’s All Ireland Hurling Final replay was the first in over 50 years and now we have a second within 12 months. Any event which continues year after year to attract over 80,000 to gather as one, and which becomes the focus of the nation on a Sunday afternoon is very special and today we take a look at some of the lessons to be learned from the magic of the All Ireland Hurling Final.
Understand the fan base
Hurling is a unique sport, one that is only played in Ireland but which casts a spell over anyone who sees it. Even within the GAA, hurling fans are ferociously singular in the importance of the game to them. Cork is a great example of how one half of the county is almost exclusively devoted to hurling and the other to football. It is a similar story in Galway who contested the minor final yesterday and the programme of the day for fans who were there was very much geared towards a celebration of the sport. The Freestyle hurling initiative which was launched for the first time this year seeks to bring the sport to a wider audience of course, but primarily it is there to strengthen the resolve of those who play. Celebrating it at half time yesterday was perhaps the most engaging interval activity that Croke park has seen.
Activate sponsorship through the stars
Liberty Insurance were the new kids on the block among the three primary sponsors yesterday but took the lions share of promotional space through having Cork’s Diarmuid O’Sullivan and Clares’ Seanie McMahon interviewed on the pitch in full Liberty branded T-Shirts and then firing sliothars into the crowd. It was they who emerged as the most prominent of the three on the day.
Be consistent on a winning theme
Last year’s reduction of ticket prices for the replay was a success in that it guaranteed a third September full house but also in terms of aligning the GAA with its core fan base at a time when money is harder to come by. Those who do not understand the Association will have been waiting again to say how ‘inevtitable’ a draw was and what a cash boost it will give. Few if any who were present would feel cheated by the game having to be replayed and the swift announcement of reduced price tickets again will have been warmly receieved as a good deal for fans. Tickets for the replay will cost €50 and €25 respectively instead of the €80 and €40 first time round.
Always look to the next generation
One of the key ways in which the GAA remains at the heart of a family summer is the consistent sale of reduced price tickets for U16’s. Family tickets all the way through to the semi finals of the All ireland can be bought for as little as €5 though that is not the case in the final. For the replay though it’s been reintroduced, through clubs in the competing counties, with juvenile tickets in the stand costing only €10.
And remember those of previous years
The celebration of anniversary teams that have won has been a feature of recent All Ireland Finals but yesterday a different tack was taken and it was one that was hugely popular. A team of the best 15 players from the 1980’s never to have won an All Ireland was selected and brought onto the pitch before the game, to the obvious delight of the fans who wer in place early enough. Such touches cost little but are an invaluable bond between the past present and future of those who play and watch the games.
See how Liberty Insurance, Centra and Etihad Airways have made the most of their involvement as premier sponsors of the 2013 All Ireland Hurling Championships.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
